After examining the mask in his hand for a few monts, Nero ca to the realization that the task I had assigned him required him to keep his true identity a secret.
Well, that was expected, considering he would be stealing from an underground auction organized by a covert organization – the latter part was still hidden from him.
Just to be perfectly clear, this covert organization wasn't Spider. It was a different extremist group that needed to gather funds in the novel to execute their next assault against the governnt.
The ruling family of the Eastern Continent, the Vermiër family, also known as the Blacksmiths from Heavens, dispatched a few of their troops to raid the underground auction.
They asked for the assistance from the disciples of the Shaolin sect.
Their hastily assembled makeshift army unit's raid proved successful in the end, and they managed to confiscate all the relics from the underground auction.
However, in my eyes, it was all a big waste.
Oh! All those precious relics! I'd prefer to have them for myself! Of course, that's not possible, as I won't have the ti to travel to the Eastern Continent during my break.
My entire one and a half month vacation schedule is all fixed and packed.
I was going to use the first two weeks to visit my hotown. Then, the remaining ti was going to be used for training with Master. Yeah, he forced to put it in my plans.
Now, since I can't make the visit to the Eastern Continent myself, I decided to send a proxy.
Yes, yes, if I can't obtain all the precious relics, I could at least secure the most expensive one, couldn't I?
Besides, this way I could accomplish two tasks. It's like killing two birds with one stone.
By curing Liz, I would be granting Nero a huge favor. And just like that, I could use one more Petal of Ambrosia to curry favor with Ella.
After all, Ella's sister should be suffering from a mana backlash – a condition that could only be treated with the Ambrosia's petal.
Nero glanced at once he was finished scanning the full-face mask and nodded slightly. "Okay, got it. But if I may ask, why are you doing this?"
"Hmm?" I raised an eyebrow, paused for a mont, and then responded. "I'm simply doing you a favor. When I ask for one in return, just oblige, and we'll call it even."
As soon as I said that, I flashed a smile at him and was about to turn to leave when an extrely strange detail caught my attention.
My gaze t Nero's, and only now did I realize that his right eye, the one he had lost in battle, was still not healed yet.
His right eyelid was tightly shut, and even though the gash running down from his eyebrow to the side of his cheek had sealed into a scar, his eye socket itself still felt hollow.
"Uh, what will happen to your eye now?" I inquired, pointing at the right side of his face using my chin. "Why isn't it healed yet?"
"Oh, the blade that wounded was coated with so kind of unknown vampire poison. Aster offered to heal it after the battle was over, but I asked her to focus on others. By the ti the academy's dical personnel arrived, it was already too late to save my eye."
Nero gently touched his closed right eye before letting out a soft sigh.
"Since the corrosion had already spread to my optic nerve by then, cauterization had to be perford at the back of my eye socket to prevent the poison from reaching my brain. And so, even the most skilled dics, capable of regenerating limbs, are powerless to assist now without damaging more in the process."
"I see," I replied. "So, what's the plan now?"
"Ah, I intend to search for other healers who could maybe help . However, in the anti, the Academy has decided to provide with a Legendary-ranked relic eye. I guess that's a good compensation, don't you think?"
His words prompted a mont of silence from . After a long pause, I asked but a single question, "Is this Legendary-ranked relic eye called the Seer Of Unknown?"
"I think so, yes," Nero responded with a surprised look. "How do you know about it?"
"Never mind," I dismissed with a wave of my hand as I turned around and walked away. "It was just a guess."
Of course, I was well aware that it wasn't rely a guess.
The truth is, even in the novel, Nero lost his right eye at one point, although it did happen much later in the story. I think it was near the early stages of the War Of Union.
In the story, he lost his eye during a fight with Quinn, who had recently switched sides to aid the vampires.
Interestingly enough, during that battle, Liz held off three vampire kings who were going to use that opening to flank Nero.
Much like the current reality, she suffered grave injuries in the novel as well. Nero had no choice but to retreat to the army base.
That marked the start of the bloody conflict between him and Quinn.
In any case, the military command granted Nero a relic that the Global Academy had in its possession at the ti as replacent for his lost eye.
This relic was nad Seer Of Unknown.
Basically, it was an advanced cybernetic eye crafted by a renowned blacksmith and a brilliant engineer.
It had the ability to Analyze things, whether it was scanning for weak points in an enemy's defense, examining an inanimate object, or scrutinizing another relic itself.
The Seer Of Unknown was capable of analyzing practically anything. And as if that weren't enough, it could store user's mana and release it in a form of laser beam or act like a battery and charge the user's depleted mana core in ti of need.
Argh, darn it. If I had known that getting an injury on academy grounds could lead to a compensation like that, I might have intentionally sacrificed my eye against one of the vampires too!
In fact, I had my sights set on it. I was going to obtain Seer Of Unknown for myself sowhere in the late future.
Still, it does leave wondering... Nero ended up receiving the very sa relic he got in the novel after suffering a similar ordeal like he did in the story.
Is that… fate?
And if it is, what will occur when the story progresses to the point where he should receive the Phoenix's Embrace?
...Hmm, perhaps it's just coincidence and I'm overthinking things. Yeah, that must be it.
Caught up in these musings, I sighed and eventually arrived in front of a certain hospital room.
Pausing briefly, I mustered my courage and twisted the doorknob, swinging the door open.
As soon as I opened the door, my breath got caught in my chest, almost as if my heart had a montary lapse.
There, right in front of , was a young woman in her late teens. Her skin was as smooth and white as porcelain, with the softness of the most lavish silk.
Her vibrant green eyes, reminiscent of a serene forest with sunlight peeking through dense leaves, fluttered slightly and locked onto , trapping in a capitative trance.
Expressions changed on her alluring face, and her cheekbones shot up in surprise, turning her cheeks a shade of red that revealed her embarrassnt.
Embarrassed, indeed. Anyone would be embarrassed if caught in such a situation.
And what situation was that, one might ask? Well, to be blunt, Alia Black was currently hanging upside down from the ceiling fan...
Her leg had gotten tangled in a bowstring, which sohow ended up entwined with the fan, suspending her in mid-air.
Thankfully, the patient robe that draped around her slender figure was also caught in the string, sparing her any further humiliation.
I stood there for a split second, then started to slowly close the door.
"No, wait! I can explain!" Alia's voice rang out urgently, causing to pause. "Just help get down from here! I can't pull up and untangle myself!"
I hesitated and stopped. "Alright, but I doubt you can explain that."
I summoned my spear and used its crimson blade to slice through the bowstring, freeing Alia's leg.
Like a cat or an experienced acrobat, she flipped and landed gracefully on her feet. However, her balance wavered, and she ended up dropping to her knees.
I quickly walked to her side, offering support before guiding her to her bed. Clearly, she was still recovering so her body lacked strength.
"Are you alright?" I inquired as she settled onto the bed with an exhausted huff. "And how in the world did that even happen?"
"That damned ceiling fan! It was too slow and too high up! I thought I could adjust its length a bit. I leaped from my bed and hooked my bowstring on the fan's shaft, but sohow my right leg got caught in the string and I found myself hanging like that!"
I gazed at the girl before with a deadpan expression. I opened and closed my mouth a few tis before finally yelling:
"The air conditioner is running! Why would you even need the fan? Are you dumb?"
"So you're telling you never use a fan when the AC is on?"
"...That's not the point! You could have asked for help instead of attempting acrobatics! And by the way, you can't extend a ceiling fan's shaft like that!"
"Oh, right, my bad! I forgot that you're a noble by blood! Pardon , your highness, but us common folks like to do our work ourselves instead of ordering others around like servants!"
"Excuse , did you injure your head? Seeking help isn't the sa as ordering people around, especially when you're physically weak!"
"You're physically weak!"
"What?!"
Alia was about to yell back and continue our pointless argunt, but a low pained groan escaped her lips as she glanced down at her leg.
Her right foot, which was caught in the string earlier, was now bruised, with a faint red line running along its width.
"See! You've hurt yourself!" I exclaid, rising from my chair and summoning a bandage from the dinsional storage of my smart bracelet.
Kneeling in front of her, I gently took hold of her leg and began wrapping the bandage around it.
Alia arched an eyebrow but made no attempt to stop . Her cheeks flushed an even deeper shade of red as she averted her gaze.
An awkward silence hung in the air, broken by Alia herself.
"So, what brings you here?" she inquired, her gaze still focused on the view outside the window.
"I ca to check on you," I responded, before hastily adding, "And Kent."
"I see," she mused. "So, were you worried about–"
But before she could finish her sentence, I interjected, "I'm sorry."
No explanation was needed for what I was apologizing for. Actually, there was little need for the apology itself, as both of us held the suspicion that I, Lucas, might have been manipulated by soone else.
Yet, that didn't negate the fact that I had hurt her.
In the past, I had avoided apologizing to her, convincing myself that I was different from Lucas.
Now, however, the line between , Noah, and Lucas had blurred. At this point, I can't even distinguish between my two personalities.
Alia turned her head sharply to face , surprise widening her eyes before a tender smile graced her lips.
Tears shimred in her eyes as she whispered, her voice soft and content, "You should be… fool."
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